British Aggregates Association Appeals to Transport Secretary over ‘Unnecessary’ Driver CPC

In a last-ditch bid to get the secretary of state for transport, Patrick McLoughlin MP,  to reconsider his decision, The British Aggregates Association (BAA) wrote to him demanding that he he suspend the “ill-considered and unnecessary” Large Goods Vehicle Certificate of Competence or DCPC .

BAA chairman and ex-haulier Robert Durward, owner of Cloburn Quarry, wrote to the MP: “I wish to complain in the strongest possible terms about the ongoing damage that is being inflicted on the transport sector by ill-considered and unnecessary legislation.

“The negative effects on the wider economy are going to be significant unless your department takes immediate action.”

The response from the secretary of state was less than satisfactory, according to Robert, who issued a press release stating that the Department for Transport (DfT) were in denial, because they were insisting that the DCPC was ‘wonderful’. The BAA disagreed in the strongest terms, and said that they only hoped that nobody famous was ‘flattened’ by a DCPC-qualified HGV driver as a result.

Robert is concerned that members of the BAA are already finding it difficult to source drivers, and believes that introducing the EU Directive-led legislation will force HGV-qualified drivers to retire or change careers – making it even harder for quarries to transport their deliveries.

 “This has got to get worse after the Driver CPC comes into force,” he told Commercial Motor. “Many quarries now have a waiting list for deliveries, which is unprecedented.”

He continued: “We are not against training but it has to be targeted and the sort of thing drivers aspire to,” adding that the current process was a box-ticking exercise. “While many drivers may not be academic, they take pride in their job and they have been grossly insulted [by the Driver CPC]. They have been told to sit in a classroom and be taught by someone that’s often [not] qualified.”

It seems that, according to industry experts like Robert Durward, this whole exercise is likely to cause economic damage, even possibly even lead to loss of life, and it’s all down to superfluous and badly designed legislation.

Whilst everyone in the BAA fully supports appropriate training, the worry is that the new legislation will force experienced HGV drivers, some with over forty years behind the wheel to give up driving, leading to a lack of qualified drivers and backlogs in deliveries that impact everybody.

Time will tell whether Robert’s predictions are correct, but the DfT don’t appear to be budging and so for now, the legislation is in force.

Come to Cloburn for your next construction project!

The Triangle, Swindon, with Gabion Walls.

If you’re looking for great quality construction materials for your next project, look no further than Cloburn Quarry. We’re famous for our red aggregate, which is popular all over Europe and the rest of the world, but we can also supply you with a wide range of excellent quality construction materials for your projects.
Some of the great products we have on offer include:

75mm Crusher Run – this is our all in 75mm down crushed granite product. It’s the biggest one we have in stock, but if you need anything bigger, just ask and we can source it for you. To use it, it needs to be laid no less that 125mm deep so that it can be compacted into an excellent quality load bearing body. You can also top it with our Type 1 sub base or the 10mm down Type 2.

Type 1 Sub-Base – This industry standard sub-base has a wide variety of applications. It’s a minus 35mm crushed and graded material, fully compliant with government and road authority specifications.

Type 2 sub-base – This sub-base is perfect for commercial car parks, and if an extra shot of decoration is needed, you could always use some of our attractive red granite Firechip™ for a deep red colour.
Scalpings – If you don’t need to use a certified product, this could be the product for you. Scalpings are a cost effective hard rock solution - a minus 30mm graded product.

Gabion Stone – Looking for filler for Gabion wire baskets or other projects? A staple for retaining walls, Gabion can also be used in hard landscaping and features. This type of stone was even used in The Triangle project in Swindon, featured in Kevin's Grand Design Programme on Channel 4. These crushed red granite mini blocks are perfect for the job at 200mm x 100mm

Type B filter stone – This type of aggregate is normally used by farmers and contractors to enhance the performance of field drains. Land drainage can help to combat waterlogging in fields and gardens, but it’s not the same as a soakaway, even though they are both used to disperse surface and/or ground water Size wise, ours is a 20mm – 12mm aggregate.

Pipe bedding –  this is a fine, protective aggregate that can be put into ditches and trenches to safely surround pipework, cables and ducts to guard them from damage. Our pipe bedding is also a bright red colour, making it an excellent safety feature and giving anyone who’s operating an excavation vehicle warning that they are close to pipe tracks.

Speak to us about anything you need for your construction projects and we’ll be delighted to help.

Unusual Golf Courses of the World

Imagine a golf course and you probably think of a perfectly manicured space, golf buggies and perhaps a smattering of Cloburn Firechip? Golf is becoming so popular now; it’s not just crazy golf courses that can leave you a little disoriented! Here are a few golf course facts that might make your head spin…

Your average round of gold might take a few hours to complete, but if you decide to take on the Nullarbor Links Course in southern Australia it would take you more like four days. The whole course actually spans two time zones, measures 848 miles in length and has holes situated at 18 towns and service stations along the Nullarbor Plain. Not for the faint-hearted.

If you like your golf hot, the Merapi Golf Course is perfect. The course is situated on the rim of the active Mount Merapi in Indonesia and as you would expect, comes with some breath taking views. There aren’t many golf courses next to active volcanos – if there’s an eruption perhaps the designers could incorporate lava hazards?

Heat not for you? Head to Uummannaq in Greenland and you can try your luck at the World Ice Golf Championships instead. The course is laid out on icebergs and you’ll need a few extra layers as the temperatures are usually below zero. Ice golf courses are shorter – nobody wants frostbite - but the rules are the same. The ball is bright orange though…

This one isn’t for wimps. If you’re feeling extremely brave (or foolhardy) you could attempt the Camp Bonifas course - Camp Bonifas is the closest military base to North Korea on the border in Panmunjom.  Dubbed the world’s most dangerous golf course, it consists of a single hole, par three which stretches 192 yards. I wouldn’t fancy my chances asking for my ball back….and watch where you walk; the fairway is ringed by landmines.

Be careful if you’re playing a round at the Lost City Golf Course in Sun City, South Africa too. There’s a real water trap at the 13th hole where you don’t want to lose your ball; you’ll have to compete with 38 crocodiles if you try to retrieve it. Not surprisingly, there are hundreds of lost golf balls in the water…and probably a few cross crocodiles, too.

Technically, golf has already been played on the moon when Astronaut Alan Shepard visited in 1971, and plans for an official course are under way. An enterprising Japanese company called Shimizu Construction has come up with a blueprint for a course on the moon, but we think the plans might be…wait for it…pie in the sky!

For more conventional golf courses, Cloburn has Firechip™ - popular with golf course designers for its bright red hue, weather resistance and durability. Although we wouldn’t recommend it for volcanoes or orbiting satellites…

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems

Something that you’ll need to carefully consider if you’re thinking of having a driveway put down is drainage, especially if you’re having a large area of front garden covered.

The flooding problems we’ve seen in recent years might be attributed to global warming and environmental changes, but we also have a part to play in causing the problems with urbanisation. Where there might once have been fields, woods and vegetation, we often have housing estates, and the lack of available ground for rain to soak into naturally has led to serious flash flooding after sudden rain. During storms and torrential rain events, high volumes of rain are directed into existing surface water drainage systems, which can lead to overloading and cause even more flooding.

Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) are designed to replicate natural drainage with systems that make as little impact on the environment as possible, draining away dirty and surface water run-off which helps to counteract the effects of conventional drainage.

SUDS need to be easy to manage, use as little energy as possible to run (except natural energy like sunlight) be as resilient as possible, and also manage to be attractive to look at as well as nice to the environment.
If that sounds like a tall order, don’t worry. At Cloburn, we offer a range of quality granite aggregates which have been tailor made for Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) These help to provide a natural approach to managing drainage in and around properties, and work by slowing and holding back water that runs off, giving natural processes the chance to break down pollutants.

Since 2008 home owners have needed  to obtain planning permission for any project that involves paving an area of more than five square metres - unless permeable blocks and an approved drainage system is used. This is where Cloburn SUDS aggregates come in – nobody wants to go through the rigmarole of a planning application if they don’t have to!

Our drainage design is straightforward and reflects a natural system with low environmental impact which effectively drains away dirty and surface water and allows it to soak back into the ground. By doing this, the SUDS counters any negative effects of conventional drainage solutions, some of which may even make flooding and environmental pollution worse.

Cloburn aggregates for SUDS are available for all projects ranging from 1-3mm to 40mm single size.

Hampden Stadium ready for the Commonwealth Games

With the Commonwealth Games taking place this month, we’re relieved to hear that Hampden Stadium, which was once Scotland’s national football stadium, is now ready for the event which starts on 23 July.

Hampden Park venue will be the focal point for the event, which lasts for seven days. The Games will involve almost 50 track and field disciplines, which will be competed by more than 1,000 athletes.

We were interested in how the transformation from football to athletics stadium took place, especially as we supply our own sports surfacing product, the popular Cloburn Red Granite Cresta™. To transform the stadium, eight rows of seats were removed, and the surface was raised around two metres so that it had the correct dimensions for an athletics track.

Contractors then added an infield with freshly-cut grass, which has been placed on a temporary deck. The deck is a construction masterpiece which consists of a whopping 1,000 base panels which are supported by over 6000 steel stilts.

Glasgow 2014 Chief executive David Grevemberg was impressed with the work when he visited at the end of last month.  He told reporters;

"The spectacular transformation of Hampden Park from iconic football stadium to world-class athletics venue is an achievement of which Glasgow and Scotland can be justifiably proud.

"The completion of Hampden marks a very special moment in our journey to the starting line of what will be the biggest and best sporting festival Scotland has ever hosted."

It needed to be impressive of course; the crowd is expected to top 40,000 and organisers expect the Games to be watched by more than one billion people around the world.

The new track was tested by Team Scotland athlete Eilish McColgan who spoke about her excitement at hearing the ‘Hampden Roar’ from the Scottish athletics fans.

"Having the 'Hampden Roar' behind me as I push down the home straight will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I can't wait to give it my all and do my very best."

The running tracks will be relocated once the Games have closed, giving even more Scottish athletes a chance to train on a landmark track, and providing a legacy of the 2014 Games.

We know that everyone, whether competing in an International event or playing football for the school team, wants their sporting experience to be a good one – and Cloburn’s Red Granite Cresta™ is a popular solution for tennis courts, running tracks and football pitches.

Good news for Scottish exporters

Here at Cloburn, a major part of our business come from export, and we like to think that we’re a small part of the reason for the upturn in Scottish exports in recent years!  The Scottish Government has announced an ambitious target of increasing the value of Scottish exports by 50 per cent on 2011 levels to reach £33 billion by 2017, so export is a big subject for businesses at the moment.

We were interested to hear about the debate about how to encourage Scottish manufacturers to export more of their goods.  A review, which was published by the UK government, has recommended creating a signpost agency to all the advice and guidance needed, which would help companies who wanted to export their goods get easy and accurate access to the advice and support they need.

It’s always easier when the different agencies involved in a process like exports can work together, so on the face of it, this seems like a good idea.

One of the conclusions was that all agencies offering support to exporters really needed to sort themselves out and collaborate better, in order to give the companies who wanted to export their goods  a better service, and said that a ‘clear and comprehensible’ framework was needed, to give companies clear guidelines and better structure.

So, what’s the problem with the existing system? The fact that Scotland’s export market is doing so well would seem to show that we’re managing pretty well without any new government initiatives, but there is a lot of red tape involved and it can be daunting for new businesses trying to navigate all the regulations.

Brian Wilson, Chairman of Harris Tweed Hebrides (and UK business ambassador ) said that he thought the present system was too fragmented and that many companies were confused about who they needed to ask for advice on how to go about selling their products to an international market.  He suggested a brand new collaboration, called Scottish Exports, which would be the first port of call for anyone who wanted to export
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This ‘front door’ to advice would be a  partnership between Scottish Development International, UK Trade and Investment and the private sector, and it would be set up to make sure that companies were signposted to the right agency for their particular needs, which would avoid time wasting enquiries and unnecessary confusion.

What do you think? Would yet another agency just confuse things even more, or is it a good idea to have one place to go, which can then refer you on to someone else – the right agency - if necessary?

World Cup Fever!

It’s FIFA World Cup time - starting next week, and even though we didn't qualify this time around, we'll still be glued to it.

There have been a lot of stories in the media about the construction work on the stadiums for the games, in fact some reports are still saying that it’s not going to be ready for the big opening game on 12th June, but we’re sure that they’ll pull it out of the bag and surprise us all. Even if just last month, construction company Odebrecht were on record as saying that the roof at the Itaquerao stadium will only be completed after the World Cup. Oops.

According to reports, the pitches are looking good anyway, even though so far they’ve only had to stand up to kick-about matches between construction workers. Time will tell; we’ll be watching as many games as we can. We would have loved to have been chosen as a supplier for the pitch material, although that might have been a bit of a long shot for such a massive International event.

Our Red Granite Cresta™ is really popular with organisations building sports facilities, as it’s great for running tracks, tennis courts (it’ll be Wimbledon soon, too) and of course, football pitches. Back in the old days, the Scottish solution for football pitches was a type of colliery waste called blaes, but technology has moved on and we’ve produced a professional product which unlike its predecessor, won’t turn into mud when it rains!

Cloburn Red Granite Cresta™ is produced from hardy, super-strong granite that’s designed to withstand the wear and tear of tough sporting events, and another bonus is that it needs hardly any maintenance at all, except some occasional rolling, so you don’t have to make sure that it’s still useable after another bout of terrible weather. It’s cost-effective, making it another good choice especially for local authorities and schools, and of course it has the striking natural red colouring that improves over time, which we think adds a real touch of class to any surface. We think it would have looked fabulous in Brazil, but never mind.

Enjoy the football!